[avoran]

Ideas welcome on a new prize scheme for Chain Gang. One that rewards longer chains but doesn't pay out large-ish prizes too easily (since 20 seems to be the new 10, so to speak).

If neither I nor anyone else comes up with a better idea before it's time for the next chain to start, I'll go with what's below. But with a little creative thinking I'm sure we can come up with something better. Ideally, one that does away with the need to cap the chain length.

For chains of 1-10 players there is no prize.
For each additional player from 11-15: +1 WRZ$
For each additional player from 15-20: +2 WRZ$
For each additional player from 21-25: +3 WRZ$
For each additional player from 25-30*: +4 WRZ$

* rule 6 modified accordingly: there can't be more than 30 players...

[Bookbanshee]

Just some ideas:

Double the rewards if there are no double skips?
Allow only one entry per letter and go back to the earlier rewarding scheme? (Maximum length of 27 if starting numbers count as one letter)

[avoran]

Double the rewards if there are no double skips?

Now that's an intriguing idea... Let's toss it around a bit more.

Allow only one entry per letter and go back to the earlier rewarding scheme?

That would be unfair since some letters are a lot more "crowded".

[Neon12]

Hmm, all the idea seem good to me!
DO as you wish avo! Im sure you can find out a good and lucrative path for all of us!

[avoran]

1. On CG: Interesting that the chains suddenly got shorter as soon as the payout changed. While I don't mind at all losing the cheaters, and don't mind too much losing people who are only in it for the WRZ$, that wasn't the plan.

Another idea that just struck me: what do you think would happen if payouts were different for each person and, say, tied to the length of the last chain or last few chains the person was in? Too fiddly, maybe...?

I'm also still thinking about bookbanshee's idea.

Lots of time, I'm not going to change anything before round 350.

2. On Soccer/Football: Isak's contest so it's his call, I'm not disputing that. But personally I would really like to see it go ahead with smaller teams rather than be cancelled, and I don't think I'm the only one.

[avoran]

I've been playing around a bit more with bookbanshee's idea. I need to experiment with some actual numbers to see what this might look like in practice, which could lead to some adjustments, but as a rough start I'm thinking something like this:

"Base" prize of 10 WRZ$ regardless of the chain length.

Add 1 WRZ$ for each poster, except
Add 2 WRZ$ for each poster not in the previous chain (and not a new account*), and
Add 4 WRZ$ for each poster not in the previous 5 chains (and not a new account)

Subtract 2 WRZ$ for each skipped starting letter, except
Subtract 5 WRZ$ if 2 starting letters in a row are skipped, and
Subtract 10 WRZ$ if 3 starting letters in a row are skipped (change the rules to allow this)
where as usual [U-V-W] and [X-Y-Z] count as single letters

No limit on chain length but prize capped at 50 WRZ$ (and obviously can't go below 0 either).

Interesting? Or too likely to lead to arguments as posters "subtract" from a chain's value?


* not entirely sure how to define this, but without this condition there could be serious abuse

[tennisfan]

I wouldn't add rewards for new players (too big of a chance for "cheaters"), but maybe an extra if there are several posters with the same letter (thus encouraging "last posters" to wait and even to PM the previous posters in the same letter.)
Penalising the skipping sounds good too, IMHO.

[Anonnymouse]

I wouldn't add rewards for new players (too big of a chance for "cheaters"), but maybe an extra if there are several posters with the same letter (thus encouraging "last posters" to wait and even to PM the previous posters in the same letter.)
Penalising the skipping sounds good too, IMHO.

Nice idea Tennis, but not sure it would work some letters would definitely have the advantage. I too would do away with any bonus associated with 'new' players

[avoran]

Yeah, I've decided not to go with the new players bonus. The + part of the points will probably end up looking similar to what it does now, although it has to be "boosted" to make sure the reward is decent even after a few subtractions.

Interesting that nobody is objecting to the skipping penalty. Remember it's not just the person doing the skipping who would be penalised, it's everyone. (Otherwise it would also be unfair if you're name starts with a letter next to, say, Q or H.)

[KaYou620]

Greetings, all! Looking thru the forums and ran across this. What type of game, contest, etc., is it? I love word games and puzzles and would be interested in participating. Look forward to your reply.

[avoran]

There are more word games in the Games section, but they don't pay WRZ prizes.
Most of the contests here are described on the Welcome to the Contests Forum page

[Neon12]

[tennisfan]

I wouldn't add rewards for new players (too big of a chance for "cheaters"), but maybe an extra if there are several posters with the same letter (thus encouraging "last posters" to wait and even to PM the previous posters in the same letter.)
Penalising the skipping sounds good too, IMHO.

Nice idea Tennis, but not sure it would work some letters would definitely have the advantage. I too would do away with any bonus associated with 'new' players

But the extra reward would be for everyone included, not just the "repeat"... So no advantage for the Ps...

[tennisfan]

New post because it's a different topic:

I'm having problems with the site (it keeps on kicking me out ) and had a full update of the Volunteers' contest complete disappeared!!
I'll update it as soon as possible, again, sorry for the delay.

In the meantime, you may want to know there will be a special volunteers prize when we reach 1000 posts in the thread! So keep the good work!

[avoran]

Thanks for the input!

At this point here's what I'm thinking for CG prizes, starting from round 351:

+1 for each player from 1-10
+2 for each player from 11-20
+3 for each player from 21-25
+4 for each player from 26 up (and no limit on the number but cap the reward at 50)

subtract 2 for each individual skipped starting letter, except
subtract 5 for each time 2 starting letters in a row are skipped

I'm also thinking about borrowing an idea from Rush Hour and some other contests that might look something like this:

- if the current chain is longer than the previous chain, +2 for each extra name (max. +10)
- if the current chain is shorter than the previous chain, -2 for each name it falls short (max. -10)

What do you think?